1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wall structure having a surface that is covered with an elastic material and that is jointless.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a wall surface such as an external wall, internal wall, or the like, has been formed by constructing a plurality of sheets of wall material, such as ceramic siding board, metal siding board, ALC board, or the like, in a residence. However, joint lines occur at the abutting portions between the wall materials, and this detracts from the external appearance. Therefore, a construction structure which eliminates the joint lines and has a jointless finish has been investigated.
For example, Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2592501 discloses a jointless external wall structure in which an elastic joint material is spread on the abutting portion of the wall members, a mesh is placed thereon, an elastic joint material is further covered thereover, and moreover an elastic coating material is coated thereon.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-254498 describes a single-component curable elastic composition in which an elastic joint material has an organic solvent content of less than 5 wt % and consists of a urethane polymer containing two or more isocyanate groups per molecule obtained by reacting together an aliphatic diisocyanate compound and/or an alicyclic diisocyanate compound, and a compound which generates two or more thiol groups per molecule by hydrolysis, a thiourethane bond being formed by reaction between the isocyanate groups and the thiol groups. Furthermore, this reference also describes a jointless external wall structure using this elastic joint material.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-146990 describes a jointless external wall structure using a mesh having opening sections comprising long diameter portions following joint lines occurring in abutting portions of external wall materials and short diameter portions which are shorter than the long diameter portions and follow a direction perpendicular to the joint lines, wherein the mesh has 10 to 60 openings per 1 Cm2.
However, in a conventional jointless wall structure, generally, a wall material having a flat surface is used and a pattern is applied thereto in the method of applying the elastic coating material. In Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2592501, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-254498 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-146990, there is no mention of applying a pattern to the surface of the wall.
If a pattern is applied by means of the method for applying an elastic coating material, there are problems in that the more complicated the design of the pattern, the greater the effort required in coating, and the greater the variation in the finished design due to the fact that the pattern is crafted by hand in the construction site.